What happened to the free lunch?

[HedaP]

Queued inside the green doors at 12 pm as per instructions to get a free lunch at the Parador at Santiago. I'd earned it...believe me!
Followed instructions posted on the internet and on the wall outside the green doors.
Waited with half dozen other lovely folk of various nationalities. Noon passed. It got to 12:30 pm with nothing happening and one of the Spanish speakers found out there was no free lunch today because noone had ordered it.
Apparently the rules have changed. Tickets now have to be ordered for the free breakfast, lunch or dinner at the Parador from the Pilgrim Office. I'm guessing that's because the Pilgrim Office isn't busy enough?
IMO telefono a el Rey!!!
PS I make no apologies for my Spanish.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Queued inside the green doors at 12 pm as per instructions to get a free lunch at the Parador at Santiago. I'd earned it...believe me!
Followed instructions posted on the internet and on the wall outside the green doors.
Waited with half dozen other lovely folk of various nationalities. Noon passed. It got to 12:30 pm with nothing happening and one of the Spanish speakers found out there was no free lunch today because noone had ordered it.
Apparently the rules have changed. Tickets now have to be ordered for the free breakfast, lunch or dinner at the Parador from the Pilgrim Office. I'm guessing that's because the Pilgrim Office isn't busy enough?
IMO telefono a el Rey!!!
PS I make no apologies for my Spanish.

You should always ask at the reception of the Parador for instructions prior to meal times, as the rules for gaining admission can change from time to time. Internet instructions are unreliable, especially when too many of those in need that the meals are mostly intended for start to be left out by an excessive affluence, and they decide a rules change in response.

There is a degree of tacit convention among the poorer Camino veterans not to spread too much detail about these parador meals too indiscriminately nor too freely.

Remember that it constitutes begging for a meal -- though the breakfast is both sparsely attended and copiously delicious, so probably the best option for those not needing the freebie but wanting "the experience", without taking any food out of someone else's mouth.

 

[Robo]

Hmmm. Not sure I would feel that comfortable queuing up for a free lunch.
I presume the original intention was to feed Pilgrims who could not afford to buy a meal.
Maybe I'm over thinking it

 

[notion900]

I don't think it's literally for the penniless pilgrim. It is because when the Parador was set up in the old Pilgrim Hospital, they kept a fraction of the tradition going as a nod to history. If it was for the poor, then surely homeless local people should be first in line.

 

[James Borden]

I don't think it's literally for the penniless pilgrim. It is because when the Parador was set up in the old Pilgrim Hospital, they kept a fraction of the tradition going as a nod to history. If it was for the poor, then surely homeless local people should be first in line.

What I should have said is that a lot of people have sense of entitlement.

 

[Anniesantiago]

The all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet is only $5 and should hold a person until dinner.

 

[Icacos]

What I should have said is that a lot of people have sense of entitlement.

I think that's a bit harsh. Likely, the OP just wanted to experience what there was to be experienced, and hadn't thought it all through - something like my not appreciating, when I went on camino for the first time, that donativo meant 'give what you can afford.'

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Hmmm. Not sure I would feel that comfortable queuing up for a free lunch.
I presume the original intention was to feed Pilgrims who could not afford to buy a meal.
Maybe I'm over thinking it

Oh, did I ever get slapped on the wrist when voicing that opinion here a few months ago! I frankly would prefer to be asked to contribute to a meal in Santiago for those who may need the helping hand.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

The all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet is only $5 and should hold a person until dinner.

Where can one get such a breakfast for 5$?

 

[JabbaPapa]

If it was for the poor, then surely homeless local people should be first in line.

They have their own facilities quite nearby.

 

[domigee]

If it was for the poor, then surely homeless local people should be first in line.

From what I was told by 2 pilgrim friends who did queue up, they are...

 

[SYates]

Queued inside the green doors at 12 pm as per instructions to get a free lunch at the Parador at Santiago. I'd earned it...believe me!
...

Actually what you do get is the same/similar meal an employee of the Parador gets and you do eat actually in the little stuff room near the stuff kitchen - a simple meal meant for those pilgrims that can't afford to eat out otherwise - if the later applies to you, only you will know.

Buen Camino, SY

 

[notion900]

Someone recently posted that they were served whole lambs' tongues. That should definitely sort the needy from the curious.

 

[Deleted member 56069]

When I was getting my compostela for completion of the Portuguese Camino this April, the first 10 people at the office received a certificate for lunch at the Parador from the pilgrim office. I was there right at 8:00 AM as the previous day when I went there the line up was likely 2 hours or more. I am not sure if they do this all the time or if it was just for a limited time period.
In any case, it was a gourmet lunch with both red and white wine.

 

[susanawee]

Queued inside the green doors at 12 pm as per instructions to get a free lunch at the Parador at Santiago. I'd earned it...believe me!
Followed instructions posted on the internet and on the wall outside the green doors.
Waited with half dozen other lovely folk of various nationalities. Noon passed. It got to 12:30 pm with nothing happening and one of the Spanish speakers found out there was no free lunch today because noone had ordered it.
Apparently the rules have changed. Tickets now have to be ordered for the free breakfast, lunch or dinner at the Parador from the Pilgrim Office. I'm guessing that's because the Pilgrim Office isn't busy enough?
IMO telefono a el Rey!!!
PS I make no apologies for my Spanish.

Perhaps my info is WAY out of date but when I completed my walk in 2013, it was my understanding that the Pilgrim meals (either Breakfast, lunch or evening meal) were for the first 10 (or maybe it was 12), people who were lined up, outside the side door of the Parador, plus the requirement of having to show your Compostela and this Compostela had to have that day's date on it......perhaps this has now changed though?

 

[Pelegrin]

I don't think it's literally for the penniless pilgrim. It is because when the Parador was set up in the old Pilgrim Hospital, they kept a fraction of the tradition going as a nod to history. If it was for the poor, then surely homeless local people should be first in line.

Yes it was a Pilgrim Hospital in the Middle Ages but before being a Parador (1954) it was the Santiago Hospital. My mother was operated there of goiter 70 years ago and maybe she had some free lunches.

 

[HedaP]

Oh OK and oh dear because I thought my thread was in fun. It was not my intention to take food from the mouths of the poor and needy and I would never have done that. If there were more than 10 queuing and looking needy I would have walked away. My niece walked the Frances last year on a shoe string and she ate twice at the Parador with very few other pilgrims and she walked in September in peak time. Can I say that all those queuing with me did not in any way look poor or needy. It was just meant to be an experience and an entitlement decreed by the King and Queen of Spain. Hey? Sometimes these things are fun. But obviously not on this forum.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Yes it was a Pilgrim Hospital in the Middle Ages but before being a Parador (1954) it was the Santiago Hospital. My mother was operated there of goiter 70 years ago and maybe she had some free lunches.

Pilgrim Hospitals very frequently functioned simultaneously as pilgrim albergues, homeless shelters, and hospitals for the sick.

 

[SYates]

... Sometimes these things are fun. But obviously not on this forum.

As we can't see your facial expression on the forum, it helps to use (a lot of) smileys when you want to indicate that your post is meant tongue in cheek Buen Camino, SY

 

[Irish Bernie]

Oh OK and oh dear because I thought my thread was in fun. It was not my intention to take food from the mouths of the poor and needy and I would never have done that. If there were more than 10 queuing and looking needy I would have walked away. My niece walked the Frances last year on a shoe string and she ate twice at the Parador with very few other pilgrims and she walked in September in peak time. Can I say that all those queuing with me did not in any way look poor or needy. It was just meant to be an experience and an entitlement decreed by the King and Queen of Spain. Hey? Sometimes these things are fun. But obviously not on this forum.

Now throw yerself to the floor and get the local homeless people in yer area to beat you with spring onions !!!!!!!

 

[HedaP]

And I will have you know that it took me 51 days to walk every step from SJPdP to Santiago. Plus I carried my backpack the entire way every day. There's no such thing as a free lunch.
PS All OK didn't realise that not everyone knew about the Parador meals.

 

[natefaith]

And I will have you know that it took me 51 days to walk every step from SJPdP to Santiago. Plus I carried my backpack the entire way every day. There's no such thing as a free lunch.
PS All OK didn't realise that not everyone knew about the Parador meals.

No worries, HedaP! The Parador free meals are intended for pilgrims; in fact there is a separate "cocina económica" that a Catholic charity has set up in Santiago where folks without resources can eat every day for very cheap (a good lunch there is 80 cents). I rarely hear of the homeless of Santiago lining up for the Parador meals - it would be too unpredictable whether they would get in, and they would know (hopefully) that the cocina económica was located near by.

You don't need to feel bad at all that you wanted to participate in the Parador's meals.

 

[notion900]

I had the free meal twice when I was in Santiago in 2007. I got the impression it was a charming tradition, a kind of re-enactment thing, and had nothing to do with charity. If it was charity, they would do more meals and not serve wines. It was always a faff to get in, they did that on purpose so only really interested people would bother.

 

[Irish Bernie]

I had the free meal twice when I was in Santiago in 2007. I got the impression it was a charming tradition, a kind of re-enactment thing, and had nothing to do with charity. If it was charity, they would do more meals and not serve wines. It was always a faff to get in, they did that on purpose so only really interested people would bother.

Rumour has it that you queued for 2 days,that true ??

 

[notion900]

Rumour has it that you queued for 2 days,that true ??

LOL no, but back then you had to hand in a copy of your documents, so I did make it my business to 'happen by' a copy shop! People used to have to queue up at the parking garage entrance and most of them didn't know about the photocopies. I got the feeling it was deliberately rather obscure and bureaucratic and sounds like it still is. But that doesn't mean people should feel bad for making the effort to do it.

BTW I am typing this while eating a free lunch that our cleaning lady just brought in as her Ramadan gift to us

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I think there is a difference between saying "leave these meals for the homeless" and "leave these meals for pilgrims with limited means", the same way donativo beds should be left for those who cannot afford the full price of a bed day in and day out as they walk.

If you want to experience the Parador and can afford the meal, go to its restaurant, ot really os not any more expensive than any other restaurant in town (neither very good nor very spectacular setting mind you). A drink in the lounge is a much nicer way to experience the setting in my opinion.

 

[SYates]

..., the same way donativo beds should be left for those who cannot afford the full price of a bed day in and day out as they walk....

If that would happen, the donativos would soon run out of money to maintain their albergues open! Buen Camino, SY

 

[nycwalking]

I had the free meal a few times in 2014. Nice. Another of those Camino experiences. Food was plentiful and delicious.

 

[JabbaPapa]

My most humbling but at the same time most gratifying experience of the Parador pilgrim dinner was one night arriving in Compostela late, showing only my massive Credencial from 2000K walking, for the Pilgrim Office was long closed, penniless, being given a ticket for one, being mystified by expressions of shock from the doorman and others, collecting my grub and my wine, then walking up to discover that I was in fact an 11th Pilgrim.

I took the window sill for my seat, and quickly forgot some negative reactions from a few who seemingly thought I had no right to be there.

Either this or starve til morning.

The love for the Camino and its pilgrims that the Parador showed me that night still shines like an evening star in the heaven of what any true pilgrim should strive for.

The same evening star that taught me in 1993 that I had missed the very essentials of the Camino, and that I needed to walk from home instead, as I did the very next year.

There is a high value in the traditional discipline of the Way of Saint James, and an invitation to follow that discipline is just that, an offer and a proposal ; never any form of judgment nor exclusion.

 

[Jodean]

I think it is a charming tradition and I know I would have been kind of sad if I had waited around doing what I had heard was correct procedure and then being told it wasn't.

For many of us, even the idea of being inside the Parador is exotic and a fond dream. Plus, we have neither the clothing or shoes that would get us into the "real" dining room.

Hopefully, I will make it in there for a meal the next time I walk. Thanks HedaP for letting us know of the changes.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Plus, we have neither the clothing or shoes that would get us into the "real" dining room.

Why not? It's nothing fancy.

 

[SYates]

..., we have neither the clothing or shoes that would get us into the "real" dining room. ...

They are very used to scruffy pilgrims, as long as they have enough cash to pay the bill ;-) Buen Camino, SY

 

[JabbaPapa]

I got the impression it was a charming tradition, a kind of re-enactment thing, and had nothing to do with charity. If it was charity, they would do more meals and not serve wines.

Sorry, but I think this is a mistaken impression -- 1) the actual charity towards the local homeless and down-and-outs occurs elsewhere in the city ; 2) 3 meals are actual food, not a "re-enactment" of it ; 3) sorry, but some pilgrims genuinely do have financial difficulties, and these meals do have them in mind

 

[JabbaPapa]

Plus, we have neither the clothing or shoes that would get us into the "real" dining room.

Scruffy dust-clad pilgrims dine there frequently enough.

 

[notion900]

It's more like the tradition of Maundy Money in the UK. Kind of a nod to charity and historical alms giving, but not very effective as a serious alleviator of poverty.

For the money they spend, they could easily feed three or four times the number of pilgrims. Eg by making the food vegetarian, and not serving wine. They don't need the cutesy dining room either. But that's not the point, the point is to remember that the Parador was the Hospital.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

3) sorry, but some pilgrims genuinely do have financial difficulties, and these meals do have them in mind

That was also my impression. This being said, if they are now handing out tickets to the first ten people to get their Compostela a day one has to wonder.

 

[JabbaPapa]

That was also my impression. This being said, if they are now handing out tickets to the first ten people to get their Compostela a day one has to wonder.

Yes indeed.

 

[Robo]

Oh OK and oh dear because I thought my thread was in fun. It was not my intention to take food from the mouths of the poor and needy and I would never have done that. If there were more than 10 queuing and looking needy I would have walked away. My niece walked the Frances last year on a shoe string and she ate twice at the Parador with very few other pilgrims and she walked in September in peak time. Can I say that all those queuing with me did not in any way look poor or needy. It was just meant to be an experience and an entitlement decreed by the King and Queen of Spain. Hey? Sometimes these things are fun. But obviously not on this forum.

Things can easily be taken out of context on this Forum and misunderstood. That's the problem with written communications

I have to say your post generated some interesting and lively debate though.

I started thinking out I would feel a bit 'weird' standing in line for a free lunch, but as it turns out, it seems that these meals are not really intended for the 'needy' as such, but are open to all Pilgrims. So I think we have all learnt a lot in the process

Though I think I would still rather go through the front door to eat there. It would still feel a bit 'weird'

 

[Ralph Keith Redhead]

Queued inside the green doors at 12 pm as per instructions to get a free lunch at the Parador at Santiago. I'd earned it...believe me!
Followed instructions posted on the internet and on the wall outside the green doors.
Waited with half dozen other lovely folk of various nationalities. Noon passed. It got to 12:30 pm with nothing happening and one of the Spanish speakers found out there was no free lunch today because noone had ordered it.
Apparently the rules have changed. Tickets now have to be ordered for the free breakfast, lunch or dinner at the Parador from the Pilgrim Office. I'm guessing that's because the Pilgrim Office isn't busy enough?
IMO telefono a el Rey!!!
PS I make no apologies for my Spanish.

Hola HedaP - I did the same (June 6th), and eventually discovered that it is now a 'first-come, first-served' with the daily meals - that only the first ten pilgrims checking-in at the pilgrims office each morning are eligible for tickets for the meals. That's what I was told. I know many, many pilgrims are expecting otherwise. Buen Camino

 

[HedaP]

Hola HedaP - I did the same (June 6th), and eventually discovered that it is now a 'first-come, first-served' with the daily meals - that only the first ten pilgrims checking-in at the pilgrims office each morning are eligible for tickets for the meals. That's what I was told. I know many, many pilgrims are expecting otherwise. Buen Camino

That's interesting but is it still the case?
There used to be three meals provided by the Parador - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Do the first 10 pilgrims at the pilgrim office get all three?
On the day I queued, we told there was no lunch that day because noone applied for it at the pilgrim office.
It would be good to know what the rules are now for the sake of anyone who might feel comfortable about accepting a pilgrim meal.
Does anyone know what they are?

 

[JabbaPapa]

That's interesting but is it still the case?
There used to be three meals provided by the Parador - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Do the first 10 pilgrims at the pilgrim office get all three?
On the day I queued, we told there was no lunch that day because noone applied for it at the pilgrim office.
It would be good to know what the rules are now for the sake of anyone who might feel comfortable about accepting a pilgrim meal.
Does anyone know what they are?

The receptionist at the Parador would be the person to ask.

 

[SYates]

I might face the heat and walk up the road and ask at the Parador ;-) Buen Camino, SY

 

[SYates]

Ok, mystery solved ;-) Just back from a chat with the friendly receptionist at the Parador, it now works like this:

The first ten pilgrims of each day that turn up at the pilgrims office get automatically a voucher for one free lunch each at the restaurant Enxebre at 13:00.

Buen Camino, SY

 

[MichaelSG]

.... 3) sorry, but some pilgrims genuinely do have financial difficulties, and these meals do have them in mind

I'm curious. Is there a source for this information? I don't think the Parador website implies this but I'm wondering if that is stated elsewhere.

 

[Felipe]

I had the free meal twice when I was in Santiago in 2007. I got the impression it was a charming tradition, a kind of re-enactment thing, and had nothing to do with charity. If it was charity, they would do more meals and not serve wines. It was always a faff to get in, they did that on purpose so only really interested people would bother.

Yes, I think so.
As for the wine, well, outside Europe we tend to think that it is for special occasions, and associated with expensive menus. But actually in Spain and France it used to be a regular thing, drank in common glassess, not in fancy goblets. It was not considered as an intoxicant, but as a fortifying drink, good even for ill people (and, surely, for pilgrims).

 

[Anemone del Camino]

But actually in Spain and France it used to be a regular thing, drank in common glassess, not in fancy goblets. It was not considered as an intoxicant, but as a fortifying drink, good even for ill people (and, surely, for pilgrims).

Of course wine is good for ill people! It says so in this novel. It even tells you which is the right wine for each ailment.

http://www.nil-editions.fr/site/soignez_vous_par_le_vin_&100&9782841115815.html

 

[Felipe]

My kind of doctor!

 

[Deleted member 67338]

View attachment 34475When I was getting my compostela for completion of the Portuguese Camino this April, the first 10 people at the office received a certificate for lunch at the Parador from the pilgrim office. I was there right at 8:00 AM as the previous day when I went there the line up was likely 2 hours or more. I am not sure if they do this all the time or if it was just for a limited time period.
In any case, it was a gourmet lunch with both red and white wine.

I know that guy on the left he was in Hospital de Orbigo tonight giving me a ticket to forward baggage to his mates company..... though I could be wrong

 

[JabbaPapa]

I'm curious. Is there a source for this information? I don't think the Parador website implies this but I'm wondering if that is stated elsewhere.

Given that things have apparently changed, then clearly not at present.

 

[HedaP]

Ok, mystery solved ;-) Just back from a chat with the friendly receptionist at the Parador, it now works like this:

The first ten pilgrims of each day that turn up at the pilgrims office get automatically a voucher for one free lunch each at the restaurant Enxebre at 13:00.

Buen Camino, SY

Wow thank you. That was really kind of you to sort this out.

 

[SYates]

@HedaP
Not really, I pass the Hostal de los Reyes Catolicos anyway when I go into the town ;-) Buen Camino, SY

 

[HedaP]

@HedaP
Not really, I pass the Hostal de los Reyes Catolicos anyway when I go into the town ;-) Buen Camino, SY

Oh how lucky are you?!!